OCEANPORT – So I think we can all agree that American Pharoah secured the top spot in any ranking of the greatest thoroughbreds ever to race at Monmouth Park with his victory in last summer's Haskell Invitational..
After all, he was the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, and the first ever to run at the Jersey Shore, all of which leaves us looking for the rest of the horses to fill out our list.
Now it gets interesting, because some of the finest horses ever to race in this country have run along Oceanport Avenue over the decades, with Monmouth Park have opened its 71st meet last Saturday.
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American Pharoah will be enshrined into the track's Hall of Champions this summer, his banner hanging on the main floor of the grandstand. Among the 63 current Hall members, 29 are enshrined at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga, N.Y., which shows you the quality of the horses that have run at Monmouth Park.
As always, these things are highly subjective. But I’m certain the classic stories and old photographs will make it clear why Monmouth Park has long been considered one of the premier destinations for the country’s top thoroughbreds:
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In sifting through the piles of results and statistics, I tried to weigh factors like the overall impact a horse had on Monmouth Park’s fan-base, the bigger picture their presence had on the sport and the lasting impact of their presence at the Jersey Shore, even though the time in the area was relatively brief for most.
ALYDAR
Back in 1977, the Sapling Stakes was a big deal, one the three biggest races at Monmouth Park along with the Sorority and the Monmouth Handicap, which became the Iselin. And after a2-year-old colt by Raise a Native won the Sapling that year, hewould forged arguably the greatest rivalry the sport has ever witnessed, finishing second to Affirmed in all three Triple Crown races, losing all three by a combined total of less than two lengths. In all, Affirmed and Alydar would meet ten times on the track, with Alydar winning three, including a victory at the 1978 Travers Stakes.
AMERICAN PHAROAH
It wasn't just that American Pharoah won impressively against a field that was greatly strengthen by the late addition of runner-up Keen Ice. It was what the Ahmed Zayat-owned champion did for the track in terms of the record crowd of 60,983 that showed up on Haskell Day, the large crowds that showed up to see his morning workouts and the month Monmouth Park spent in the spotlight after Zayat committed him to the race. He went on to win the Breeders' Cup Classic, and the hope is that his lasting legacy at the Jersey Shore will be a new generation of race fans.
ALYSHEBA
The son of Alydar went on to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 1987, before Bet Twice went on to win the Belmont Stakes. It was the first hint of what was to come later that summer, when the two, along with Lost Code, engaged in the greatest Haskell Invitational of them all. With Lost Code hanging on gamely on the front end, Bet Twice finally took the lead deep in the stretch, before holding off Alysheba, who who was closing on the outside. Alysheba would come back to win the 1988 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
BET TWICE
The Jimmy Croll-trained son of Sportin’ Life was truly a Monmouth Park horse, having having won the Sapling Stakes there in 1986 as a 2-year-old. After finishing second to Alysheba at both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Bet Twice emerged with a 14-length victory at the Belmont Stakes, before his stirring Haskell victory two months later. As a 4-year-old, Bet Twice made up for his Preakness defeated by beating Alysheba at the Pimlico Special, and later finished second at the Iselin Handicap at Monmouth.
BOLD RULER
As good as the 1957 Horse of the Year was on the track, he’s best known for having sired Secretariat, along with 10 other champions. In fact, Bold Ruler was the leading sire in North America for seven straight years, beginning in 1963, and then again in 1973, when Secretariat won the Triple Crown. But before heading off to the breeders’ shed, the final race of Bold Ruler’s career was on July 19, 1958, when he captured the Monmouth Handicap. it was the final chapter in a career that saw him win 23 of his 33 career starts.
HOLY BULL
It’s impossible to tell the history of Monmouth Park without mentioning Holy Bull, the Jimmy Croll-trained runner who was named Horse of the Year in 1994. He was a local horse through-and-through, breaking his maiden at Monmouth in his first start as part of an unbeaten 2-year-old campaign. He returned in 1994 to win the Haskell Invitational, before capturing the Travers and Woodward stakes in New York. He won 13 of his 16 career starts.
KELSO
A five-time Horse of the Year, Kelso opened his 3-year-old campaign with a win at Monmouth Park. But it was after winning four straight Horse of the Year titles that Kelso returned to Monmouth Park for the Monmouth Handicap. And while he made a stirring stretch run, he was unable to catch Mongo, falling a half-length short as the 3-5 favorite in front of a crowd of 30,415. He would go on to win the D.C. International and Jockey Club Gold Cup and was again named Horse of the Year.
POINT GIVEN
Of the seven Haskell winners trainer Bob Baffert has sent postward at Monmouth Park, none was better than Point Given. After a disappointing fifth-place finish at the Kentucky Derby, Point Given never lost again. he came back with victories in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, before shipping to Monmouth Park where jockey Gary Stevens guided him to victory over a very game Touch Tone on the inside. His efforts earned him Horse of the Year in 2001.
RACHEL ALEXANDRA
Few horses have created as much buzz around Monmouth Park as the dynamic daughter of Medaglia d’Oro did when she showed up here in 2009 in the wake of her dominating performance at the Kentucky Oaks, before beating the boys in the Preakness Stakes. She was as advertised, using an explosive stretch run to pull away from Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird. She went on to beat the boys again in the Woodward Stakes, en route to Horse of the Year honors, before returning to Monmouth in 2010 to win the Lady’s Secret.
RUFFIAN
The first indication of just how talented this daughter of Reviewer was came on July 27, 1974, when she rolled to her first Grade I victory, beating Hot N Nasty in the Sorority Stakes at Monmouth. In the ten career starts she finished, she never lost, and was named the champion 2-year-old filly and 3-year-old-filly in 1974 and 1975, respectively, eventually named the top female racehorse of the 20th century. But tragically, Ruffian had to be humanely destroyed after breaking her right foreleg in a match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure on July 6, 1975 at Belmont Park.
SKIP AWAY
Trainer Sonny Hine, a Monmouth Park fixture, did a masterful job guiding the career of this gray son of Skip Trial, who went on to post ten Grade I victories during his career. He captured the 1996 Haskell Invitational and was second to Formal Gold at the Iselin Handicap a year later, eventually winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic later in 1997. He returned to win the Iselin in 1998, on his way to Horse of the Year honors.
SPECTACULAR BID
The 1980 Horse of the Year, Spectacular Bid won 26 of his 30 career starts, with jockey Willie Shoemaker guiding him to the wire first in the 1980 Iselin handicap at Monmouth Park. A year earlier, Spectacular Bid won the first two legs of the Triple Crown before Coastal pulled off the upset at the Belmont Stakes. Later that year he made his way to the New Jersey to win the Meadowlands Cup.
Staff writer Stephen Edelson is an Asbury Park Press columnist: sedelson@gannettnj.com; Twitter: @SteveEdelsonAPP
